Not suitable under 6; parental guidance to 8 (violence, scary scenes, themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 6 | Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes, and themes. |
Children aged 6–8 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes, and themes. |
Children aged 9 and over | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | My Freaky Family |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes, fantasy themes, animated violence and some scenes may scare young children |
Length: | 86 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Aneska (voice of Miranda Otto) and Nerlin Flood (voice of Ardal O’Hanlon) make a daring escape from a magical kingdom while Aneska is heavily pregnant. Fleeing King Murkhart (voice of Richard Roxburgh) and his evil henchman Volos (voice of Robert Degas), who will stop at nothing to find them, Aneska and Nerlin hide in the human world. Here, their young daughter Betty is encouraged to play music but is forbidden to practice magic, despite the fact that her siblings are all encouraged to hone their skills in the art. Her brother Winchflat can raise the dead; her brother Staniel has the power of a dog; and her twin sisters Morbid and Silent have their own unusual talents. When Betty sneaks off to a magical festival that the rest of the family routinely attends, she meets Misha (voice of Charlotte Friels) who pretends to be her friend and secretly trains her to use magic while feeding her false stories about her parents’ past. When Betty’s family is taken by Volos and King Murkhart, her father’s life once again hangs in the balance. It will be up to Betty and her true friends Abi (voice of Erin Choy) and Nat (voice of Semisi Checkham) to find a way to free them all and unite the feuding worlds of magic and music.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Family dysfunction; Dishonesty; Magic; War; Betrayal.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie, including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is no coarse language in this movie but it does contain some name-calling, including:
My Freaky Family is an animated adventure inspired by the book series The Floods by Colin Thompson. The film provides an interesting look at unusual family dynamics, and shows the importance of finding your place and figuring out where you belong. Some of the characters and themes may be upsetting for younger viewers and, as such, the film is best suited to audiences aged 8 and over.
The main messages from this movie are that each family is different in their own way but also that every family member belongs and that family must always come first.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531